How to Choose the Right Warehouse Racking System

If you are in the process of refitting an existing warehouse, or even planning to build a new warehouse, then at some stage, you will need to decide what sort of pallet racking to install. The ideal choice of racking for your environment will largely depend on the types of goods that you are storing, and what sort of equipment you are going to be using to retrieve and put away stock.

Wide Aisle Pallet Racking

Probably the most commonly used type of racking for small warehouses across the UK, wide aisle pallet racking allows you to easily retrieve and put away good with a regular sized forklift truck. The standard width aisles do consume quite a lot of space though, so if you really want to fit as much storage space as possible into your warehouse it’s worth considering narrow aisle racking or even powered mobile pallet racking.

Narrow Aisle Racking

VNA (Very Narrow Aisle) reach trucks are capable of lifting loads in excess of one tonne to heights in excess of 13m. Since the aisles are fairly tight, it is common practice to use man up reach trucks in conjunction with wire guidance systems. This allows the driver to focus on the task at hand without having to navigate the narrow aisles manually. As an alternative to wire guidance, vehicle rollers and tracks can be used. Vehicle rollers are fitted to the reach trucks, and angle iron tracks are installed throughout the warehouse. The vehicle rollers ensure that the reach trucks stay aligned with the track at all times.

Powered Mobile Pallet Racking

To really get the most storage space out of your warehouse, it’s hard to beat powered mobile pallet racking. With this storage system, traditional racking is mounted on mobile bases that can be moved left and right along tracks that are embedded into the warehouses concrete floor. This allows you to increase storage space by up to an 80% increase over standard racking. The racks can be moved either via a reach truck mounted console, or using a panel mounted at the end of each rack.

Powered mobile pallet racking only requires a single aisle to grant access to multiple racks. The racks are simply moved to create an aisle between the row you need access to. Whilst this solution is particularly suited to cold storage environments, it is perhaps not so well suited to high volume environments.

Drive-in Pallet Racking

Where high volumes of each product are stored, drive-in pallet racking can be an efficient solution. With traditional racking products are stacked vertically, but with drive-in pallet racking the pallets stack horizontally on long rails that run the length of the racking. Forklift trucks simply drive into the end of the aisle to put away or retrieve goods. Drive-in racks are structurally very strong, and are therefore able to support heavy loads. Goods that are too fragile to stack vertically can also be stacked on drive-in racks without being exposed to the weight of the pallets above.